Freethinker ~ Freerunner

New Years Day!  I rested today because I'm still recovering from two injuries.  My right calf muscle seems to be torn or strained.  My left foot still has slight pain in the ball of the foot.  The pain lasted about two days after my last run on Christmas day.

I rested today.  Still recovering.  I did some research on metatarsal, or "ball of foot" pain, and discovered that I need a different kind of insole than the one I bought at the running shoe store.  I need one with padding in the fore foot area.  I went back to the running shoe store today and talked to the nice sales associate who sold the my last pair of Brooks Ravena shoes with the insoles.  He gave me an exchange on the insoles, which I found to be a very nice gesture as I expected to have to buy the new ones.  

I spent the day walking around my house "breaking in my new insoles" in my old running shoes during a Dallas Cowboys game.   I am often on my feet during a game because I get excited about the goings on.  I figured it was a good way to get my feet comfortable wearing the insoles before actually running in them.  

I rested today.  

I ran today for the first time since Christmas morning.  I also ran for the first time in my new Super Feet Orange Insoles.  I replaced the green insoles with the orange ones because it seems that I need extra padding under the ball of my left foot. 

To recap, I have struggled for about two months or more with "ball of foot" pain there.  I almost never feel the pain when I am running.  Usually I feel the pain walking around barefoot the day of the run or the next day.  I also feel the stiffness or soreness when I get out of bed in the morning.  As a result I have taken it really easy for the past two weeks.  I only ran once each week.  Last week I ran ten miles, and I felt a little pain in the ball of my left foot after the run.  I also felt my right calf muscles tinge up somewhere around mile 8 last week.  I iced both areas for the rest of the day and waited until today to run again.  

So today I am pleased to report that I ran in the new insoles (Superfeet Orange) with forefoot padding.  I kept my pace nice and easy (8:12 miles) as not to over do it.  I want my right calf muscle to heal up from whatever injury it has, and I want to see if I am capable of running a moderate distance without feeling the "ball of foot" pain in my left foot in the hours and days after the run while walking.  So far I am pleased that neither injury seems to have shown itself.  As I type it has been two hours since I finished my run today and I have not felt a thing after the run.  I did feel something in the ball of my foot and something in my right calf on the run itself, but it was very faint.  I may be overly analyzing my body at this point, but for a good reason.  I want to be cautious during this part of the year.  I probably still have a few weeks before I need to get back on a training schedule for the Oklahoma City Marathon.  

I ran the for the second time with my new Super Feet Orange in-soles with special forefoot padding.  My left foot felt pretty good all the way up until around mile 6 when it started to feel a bit sensitive.  It was not the ball of my foot so much as it was the heel and middle area that just felt a little unsupported and vulnerable to the jolt of each impact.  I noticed that I could make each landing feel better by quickening my pace a little.  I also noticed a slight tinge in my right calf around mile 10 that worsened a little around mile 13 at which time I slowed my pace from 8:30 to 8:55.  It looks like maybe that right calf is still healing up.  The only other physical issue I noticed was my right knee.  There was a little pain going up the hills beyond mile 8 or 9.  

It felt really good to get back out and run a nice distance again.  Really good.  It reminded me why I run.  Now I just need to be careful not to over do it as I ease back in to multiple runs per week.  I fear I might have run just a few miles farther than I probably should have today.  The good news is that I'm not really feeling any post run pain in either my left foot or right calf.  I'm taking that as a good sign.  

I ran for the second time with my Superfeet Orange insoles.  I felt some sensitivity in my ball of my left foot for the first few miles.  I'm not aware of feeling it much past that point. 

It was a cool 24 degrees this morning and I had a nice view of what I believe to be Jupiter. 

I ran at  nice and easy 7:54 pace.  

I really enjoyed my run this morning.  I was feeling really good almost all the way through.  I think the ball of my left foot seems to be almost completely back to normal.  I did feel my right calf muscle tinge up on me a bit right at the end with only half a mile left to my finish.  Hopefully it was just a cramp, but I will ice it just to be safe.  

 A funny thing happened when I got back.  The sweat on the back of my head mask was stiff and crunchy!  Frozen!

I ran this morning in 24 degrees.  My right calf and the ball of my left foot both felt fine.  When I got home I transferred my insoles to my work shoes and wore them all day to work in.  I am beginning an experiment to wear my insoles at work to see if the ball of my left foot feels normal at the end of the day.  Today I am happy to report that it felt fine all day.  Usually what happens is that by the end of the day it feels like something is in my shoe under the ball of my foot.  It feels like I am stepping on something.  If wearing my insoles at work makes my foot feel better I will get an extra set for my work shoes.

I'll try to remember to report in this blog tomorrow how my feet feel at the end of the day.  

I ran this morning with my Superfeet Orange insoles inside my New Balance 1226's for the first time.  I had used nothing but my Brooks Ravena up to this point with the insoles.  I felt fatigued a little early today.  My body and legs felt heavy and my breath seemed to shorten a little earlier in the run than I would have liked.  At first I thought maybe it was the shoes.  My Ravena's are a little lighter than my 1226's, and I have worn them exclusively for the past four weeks.  But Kevin noticed the same feeling of fatigue, so I'm not sure what to attribute it to.  Maybe I was dressed too warm for the 40 degree weather.  The last time I ran (Wednesday morning) I believe it was about 30 degrees. 

As for my feet, they felt mostly good on the run and have felt good since (the time is now 11:55 AM).  I had worn my Orange insoles in my work shoes Wednesday and Thursday this week to see if wearing them during the work day helped.  I think it did, because by the end of the day both days I did not notice any soreness or that feeling like something is in my shoe under the ball of my left foot.  The only negative to doing this was that at the end of the day Thursday I noticed the left insole making a popping noise.  When I got home and removed it from my shoe it turned out that the plastic near the inner side of my left heel had cracked.  I was a little disappointed as I had only worn them on two runs and then two days at work.  I wore them this morning as I said, and the cracked area did not seem to be a problem in my running shoes as they fit a little tighter than in my dress shoes.  In any case, the support I need from them is under the ball of my foot rather than the heel area so I believe I will be alright.  I do need to figure out a solution for my feet during the day at work though.  I think they really helped, I just don't want to invest in another set for work that ends up cracking again after a couple of days wear.   

If anyone else has had similar ball of foot pain issues I would love to hear how it was resolved.  

Good run today.  I ran in my Brooks shoes.  I almost did not run today as I felt some soreness in my ball of my left foot last night while walking to my car when leaving work.  I went ahead and decided to run today after I got back from the gym. 

As a short digression I will talk about what I did at the gym.  I swam 20 laps (500 meters) in the pool.  This was my third visit to the pool as I have decided to train for a triathlon.  I have no prior training in swimming aside from one week in seventh grade gym class.  So far I have learned a little about swimming from talking to my running and now cycling buddy Kevin who is an accomplished triathlete.  Kevin has loaned me a swimming book called 'Call the Suit' by Sheila Taormina.  I'm working my way through it to understand the basics and drills in and out of the pool.  

Now back to my run today.  I set out to do six miles, but ended up running 8 at a 7:38 pace.  I did not take any Gatorade with me as I thought I would just go easy, like 8:30 miles, since my foot was sore last night.  I felt pretty good and ended up running a little harder than I originally planned.  My left foot felt a little sore on the last mile, but not too bad since I've been back.  I been icing it just to be safe.  

I felt good this morning.  I noticed very little, if any soreness in the ball of my left foot.  I really think my Brooks Ravena shoes with the Super Feet Orange insoles were the solution, but I'm still proceeding cautiously.  I have not yet signed up for the Post Oak Lodge trail run in February.  I may decide to skip it this year even though I really wanted to finish after my experience not finishing last year.  It is a need I have to conquer the only race I did not finish.  The need may just have to wait until next year.  I have however decided to register for a Triathlon, my first, in April, and a half marathon in May.  The half marathon is actually my wife's goal, but I'm definitely going to be there running it with her for her first half.  

I'm going to rest tomorrow, and then ride a 1.5 to 2 hour bike ride with Kevin on Saturday before our long run Sunday.  Since I have swum twice in the pool this week I'm feeling really good about my training right now.  I need to work a strength training in somewhere though, maybe tomorrow.  

This run occurred the day after my first ever 26.5 mile bike ride.  My legs felt fine.  The only thing I can detect as sore from the ride is my neck, and that is from riding in occasionally in the 'aero' position.

This run was part of Kevin's Iron Man training.  We ran 105 minutes at a target pace of 8:30 minutes per mile.  Our actual pace was 8:08.  The temperature was about 38, but with north winds up to 16 miles per hour.  Overall it was a nice morning. 

Injury report: 

The lower left outer side of my left leg just above my ankle felt a little tingly as it sometimes does when I got back.  I iced it 15 on and 15 off for about an hour and fifteen minutes.  The ball of my left foot feels a little agitated, but not bad.